639 
PERICARDITIS IN CATTLE. 
By W. Williams, M.V.C.E., Mold. 
The obscurity of the above affection in cattle, and the 
difficulty of its detection during life, on account of the symp- 
toms in many instances being anything but decided, have 
induced me to forward the history of two cases that have 
fallen under my notice, trusting their publication will add to 
the list of symptoms indicative of this disease. 
On the 16th of Jane, 1856, I was requested by Mr. 
Thomas Tatum, of Gwernafield, to attend a cow of his. 
Her history he gave as follows. She has been unwell since 
she calved three weeks ago. The foetal membranes were not 
expelled for a fortnight after the event, and they came away 
piecemeal in a state of putrescence. Her appetite has been 
very capricious all along, and her bowels rather costive. A 
discharge of white matter has taken place from the vagina 
for the last week or so. She gives but little milk. The 
breathing is tranquil, and she does not cough. She has a 
peculiar stare in the countenance, and takes a great deal of 
notice of everything. On inspection, I found her as the 
owner had stated; the symptoms, to a casual observer, being 
anything but indicative of extensive organic changes, but 
more of general debility after parturition. She was rather 
emaciated. On closer examination, I found the mucous 
membranes to be rather pallid ; the mouth cool and moist ; 
the temperature of the body but slightly below the natural 
standard, and equal over all parts of the body ; the pulse 
very weak, beating 96 in the minute, and regular; the 
breathing only very slightly hurried. After advancing thus 
far in my examination, I must confess that the case fairly 
puzzled me, and I was inclined to look on it as one of general 
debility and leucorrhoea. But as the discharge from the 
vagina was only very slight, I thought it could not be the 
sole cause of the loss of appetite and other symptoms pre- 
sent. I now auscultated the chest, and on applying my ear, 
the respiratory murmur was heard distinct and natural, but I 
thought a little increased at the anterior portion of both sides. 
On auscultating the region of the heart, I failed to detect 
the sounds of that organ, and on still further examination, 
both the sounds and impulse were indetectible. This struck me 
as being curious, but on account of the regularity of the pulse 
I did not consider either the heart or its membranes to be the 
seat of disease, and treated the case as one of general debility. 
